1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for the preparation and distribution of pharmaceutical and related items at hospitals, nursing homes and the like and in particular to structures for packaging, organizing, transporting, and distributing such materials with improved efficiency, accuracy and convenience.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Conventionally, pharmaceuticals including prescription drugs and non-prescription drugs such as antipyretics, analgesics, and the like are prepared and distributed in large institutional facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes in a manner closely analogous to the dispensing of such drugs and medicines in the home.
The prescription and the non-prescription medicines for each patient in the institution are prepared and stored in prescription quantities. The individual dosages of the medicines are measured from the prescription quantities at or near the time of distribution thereof. This method of distributing medicine requires the institution to keep large inventories of medicine on hand, is time consuming for nurses and other professional people having the responsibility for preparing the individual dosages, and relies heavily upon the skills of these persons to insure that the dosages are accurate and properly distributed.
A significant improvement in this method of distributing medicine has been effected by the use of a system of prepackaging individual dosages of medicine in special trays. The medicine is prepared at a pharmacy, frequently remote from the institution. The trays or packaging devices are provided with a multiplicity of receptacles or compartments with the medicines being placed in the compartments in individual dosages according to a predetermined scheme such as, for example, sequentially according to room number. The trays are then transported to the institution and placed in special carts for transport to the individual patients. Such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,512,858, issued to Relyea. The system disclosed in the Relyea Patent, however, requires that a large and relatively bulky cart be continuously transported between a pharmaceutical preparation facility and the institution. Further, this last mentioned system requires a separate cart for each floor or area to be served and does not provide any means for transporting or otherwise distributing non-prescription materials that are typically stored in bulk quantities at a hospital. Substantial redundancy in equipment is also required inasmuch as one set of carts will typically be situated at the pharmaceutical preparation location while another set of carts is being used at the institution.
There exists, therefore, a need for an apparatus for preparing, organizing, transporting and distributing individual dosages of medicine and the like materials which eliminates unnecessary redundancy of the equipment. Such a system further requires minimization of the portions thereof that must be transported both for economy of transportation and initial expense of the equipment.